Canadians more
supportive of
same-sex marriage
Support for gay marriage has increased in Canada after three provinces legalized full same-sex marriage over the past 14 months.
An Environics Research Group poll released July 6 found that 57 percent of Canadians favor legalization of full marriage for gay couples and only 38 percent oppose it. That's a 9 percent increase in support since last September.
Court rulings have opened up marriage in Canada's three most populous provinces: British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec.
The pollsters surveyed 1,500 adults between June 16 and 21. The margin of error is 2.5 percent.
Canada's federal government is planning to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide in coming months.
Yukon nixes
gay marriage
The government of Canada's Yukon Territory June 29 refused to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple but suggested they go ahead with their wedding nonetheless.
The government promised to issue the license later, retroactively, if the territorial court system or the federal Parliament legalizes same-sex marriage in the Yukon.
'That's unacceptable,' groom-to-be Stephen Dunbar told CBC North news. 'Our marriage is July 17. I don't think any of the Supreme Court or their lawyers had to wait for their marriage licenses. There's no reason why we should have to wait.'
The Yukon Supreme Court, which is a lower trial court, will hear the case of Dunbar and partner Rob Edge on July 14.
The highest courts in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec have legalized full same-sex marriage over the past 14 months, and the federal government has promised to do so nationwide this year.
Pride parades continue
Gay-pride parades continued around the world in early July. About 3,000 people marched in heavy rain through the center of Dublin, Ireland, July 3. According to UTV: 'Lorries [trucks] blasting out '80s electro-pop music accompanied the motley assortment of 6-foot drag queens, sailors, devils and angels lost in a sea of pink feather boas. Marchers dressed as giant walking sperm followed youth groups, AIDS awareness groups, a gay hiking club and a deaf gay group as they danced through the capital.'
Between 700,000 and 1 million people turned out for Madrid's 26th gay pride parade July 3, organizers said. This year's slogan was 'The time is right,' a reference to the new Socialist government's promise to legalize full same-sex marriage.
Some 50,000 people attended London's pride celebration July 3. The parade, from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square, featured more than 30 floats and a dozen samba bands. A 'Big Gay Out' concert followed in Finsbury Park.
'Not that long ago there were important political issues that people were angry about, like Section 28. Now we are hopefully going to see the Partnership Bill go through Parliament, so this is a celebration,' said gay actor Sir Ian McKellen of Lord of the Rings fame. 'This parade helps say to people who haven't come out yet, 'There's nothing to be frightened of.''
Section 28 was a 1988 law that banned local governments and schools from promoting homosexuality or 'the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship.' It was repealed in November 2003.
Tens of thousands of GLBTs also marched in Cologne, Germany, July 3.
Police beat
gays in Nepal
Police beat gays protesting outside the prime minister's office in Kathmandu, Nepal, the Himalayan Times reported July 6.
The paper said members of the gay Blue Diamond Society (BDS) were protesting 'police atrocity' and 'human rights violation.'
'The police beat them up and ordered [them] to leave the place saying staging protests around Singha Durbar was banned,' the report said.
BDS called for an 'immediate end of sexual oppression and assault on sexual minorities from the police and society.'
Jamaican reggae star finds trouble in UK
One of Jamaica's top reggae and dance hall music stars, Beenie Man, was met by police when he arrived at London's Heathrow Airport on June 23 to start a tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Acting on a complaint by the gay group OutRage!, Metropolitan Police questioned Beenie Man about his lyrics, which promote violence against homosexuals.
A few hours later, London's Ocean nightclub canceled Beenie Man's June 24 concert 'due to concerns for public safety and following discussions with the Metropolitan Police.'
'This cancellation is a triumph over homophobia,' said OutRage!'s Peter Tatchell. 'Our aim is to make Britain a no-go area for entertainers who incite violence against gay people.'
Among Beenie Man's lyrics are these from the song Bad Man Chi Chi Man: 'Some bwoy will go a jail fi kill man tun bad man chi chi man! [Some men are willing to go to jail for killing a man who is queer!] ... Yuh see em to run off a stage like a clown, Kill Dem DJ! [If you see him (the queer) run off the stage like a clown, Kill that DJ!]'
